Richest races at Royal Ascot

Royal Ascot is amongst the richest horse racing meetings on the calendar, and here we take a look at the races that offer the most prize money at this prestigious event.

Royal Ascot is one of horse racing’s most prestigious events, and every year it attracts a plethora of racegoers, trainers, horses, and their jockeys to Ascot Racecourse to compete in some of the sport’s most reputable and prestigious races.

Action will of course return to Ascot next year for five days of enthralling racing. Royal Ascot 2026 will get underway on Tuesday 16th June before coming to a close with the fifth and final day, on Saturday 20th June 2026.

Of course, this iconic festival of racing is not just famous for the superb venue, incredible atmosphere and exciting action. It is also one of the richest horse racing events on the calendar with prize money ranging from hundreds of thousands of pounds to an extraordinary one million for the winner.

The Ascot Gold Cup, won most recently in 2025 by William Buick’s Trawlerman, is arguably the headline race of Royal Ascot every year and is amongst the richest races on the schedule.

Here, we are going to take a look at some of the richest races. The prize money on offer in the following races is very high, which highlights the prestige of not only the races but the event itself.

The prize money is as of the 2025 renewal of this event, with the prize money for individual races in 2026 yet to be revealed.

3) King Charles III Stakes, St James’s Palace Stakes, The Gold Cup, Commonwealth Cup & The Coronation Stakes (£650,000)

We start with five races, which are all worth £650,000 each in prize money for the winner: the King Charles III Stakes, the St. James’s Palace Stakes, the Ascot Gold Cup, the Commonwealth Cup, and finally the Coronation Stakes.

Starting with the King Charles III Stakes is five furlongs in length, and it takes place on the opening day of Royal Ascot on 16th June. The most recent running of this race, King Charles III’s third since he ascended to the throne, was won by American Affair, who was ridden by Jockey Paul Mulrennan that day.

Taking place over an old mile, the St. James’s Palace Stakes will actually follow the King Charles III Stakes on day one. The winner of this race back in 2025 was Colin Keane’s Field of Gold, who managed to fend off stern competition from Henri Matisse and Ruling Court, who had to settle for second and third place finishes respectively.

Moving on to the most prestigious race of them all at Royal Ascot, the Ascot Gold Cup will of course be taking place once more on the third day of this year’s renewal (Thursday 18th June 2026). 2025 saw the most recent running of this race take place, and it was won by Trawlerman, who was ridden by William Buick. Trawlerman and Buick set a new track record of 4:15.02 – beating a record set 15 years earlier by Rite Of Passage (4:16.92).

The 2026 Commonwealth Cup will be taking place at Ascot Racecourse on Friday 19th June, the fourth day of racing. The race is set to take place over a total distance of six furlongs, and the winner in 2025 was Time For Sandals, ridden by Richard Kingscote.

Finally, the Coronation Stakes will get underway on day four, and it takes place over a round (old mile). In 2025, the winner was Cercene, ridden by Gary Carroll.

2) The Queen Anne Stakes (£750,000)

The 2026 Queen Anne Stakes takes place over a straight mile, and it offers the second most prize money of any race at the latest renewal of Royal Ascot – £750,000. This was the first race on the opening day of the festival in 2025 – in 2026, gets underway on the afternoon of Tuesday 16th June 2026.

The most recent winner of this race back in 2025 was won by Jockey Mark Zahra onboard the previous year’s runner-up Docklands. Sean Levey’s pre-race favourite Rosallion and Silvester De Sousa’s Cairo filled the other two spots in the top three in second and third place respectively. De Sousa came in third after winning the race the year before in 2024 with Charyn.

It was a tense photo finish that saw the Harry Eustace trained Docklands secure the win.

1) Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes & Prince of Wales’s Stakes  (£1 million)

Two races boast the joint most prize money of any other race at Royal Ascot in 2026. Both the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes and the Prince of Wales’s Stakes were worth no less than 1 million pounds for the winner of both races in 2025. The prize money for 2026 is yet to be confirmed.

Starting with the former, this race will be taking place over the course of six furlongs on the afternoon of Saturday 20th June 2026, the fifth and final day of Royal Ascot. In 2025, it was won by Lazzat, ridden by Jockey James Doyle. Pre-race favourite Satono Reve (Joao Moreira) and Flora Of Bermuda (Patrick Joseph McDonald) had to settle for second and third place finishes, respectively.

Moving on to the Prince of Wales’s Stakes, this is a race that took place on the second day of 2025’s Royal Ascot. Taking place over the course of one mile and six furlongs, it will get underway on the afternoon of Wednesday 17th June 2026. In 2025, it was won by William Buick who rode Ombudsman to victory ahead of Anmaat (2nd) and Oisin Murphy’s See The Fire (3rd).

Excitement and anticipation for the 2026 renewal of the iconic and illustrious Royal Ascot at Ascot Racecourse, is already building.

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